Motiejunas, Asik among Rockets adding European seasoning

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When it comes to the competition for best tales related to how Rockets players spent their summer vacation, James Harden will likely be tough to beat. He has kept busy with everything from commercial shoots to appearances from Alaska to Asia. Dwight Howard has had an interesting off-season. Chandler Parsons has kept his calendar full, not even including his role as chief recruiter. (Having helped land Howard, he apparently pulled a Caliparian effort on Marcus Camby, too.)

There are, however, a handful of Rockets players with more routine off-season doings worth noting, with Omer Asik, Donatas Motiejunas and Omri Casspi playing in the EuroBasket tournament in Slovenia, and Francisco Garcia playing in Fiba Americas in Venezuela.

It is best not to read too much into performances with national teams when players compete with different rules and roles. Players that create their own shot internationally catch-and-shoot in the NBA. Low post big men in the summer, space the floor in winter. But with media day in three weeks, it is worth at least a quick look at the third of the Rockets’ roster and its play so far to start their tournaments abroad. Take from it what you will, but you probably shouldn’t take too much, especially after just two or three games in Europe.

Motiejunas might be the most interesting of the Rockets’ international players to watch. Motiejunas is expected to compete for a starting spot next to Howard, but still has not quite cracking the Lithuania starting lineup. Lithuania has relied heavily on Linas Kleiza and still does. Kleiza so far has played pretty much as he always had in the NBA, looking like a better player than he actually is (he is 6 of 21 through the first three games.) Playing sparingly off the bench, Motiejunas has shot pretty well, going 8 of 15, while playing an average of 13 minutes per game.

He does look thicker from all the weight work he put in since last season, though not as much as teammate Jonas Valuncinas of the Raptors.

Casspi and Israel have generally struggled in the tournament, though Casspi did come on a bit in the second half of Friday’s blowout loss to France, one of the tournament favorites, finishing with 14 points on 3 of 8 shooting. In his three games, Casspi has made just 7 of 30 shots, though that includes his dreadful opener when he went 1 of 10 inside the arc against Great Britain. He won’t be taking 10 shots inside the 3-point line with the Rockets too often. He’s 4 of 14 on 3s so far.

Asik has been Asik, strong on defense, smart, never getting outside his game. Asik’s taken six shots in two games and made them all. He did not play much in Turkey’s loss to Italy, which might help explain the loss to Italy.

The Rockets might be watching the play of Spain’s Sergio Llull and Greece’s Kostas Papanikolaou, players not of the roster whose rights they hold, even more closely. Papanikolao, whose rights the Rockets acquired in the trade that sent Thomas Robinson to Portland, did not do much in the tournament opener, but had 10 points in 21 minutes against the strong Russian frontcourt.

Llull has already established himself as a solid prospect and has played well in Fiba events, but has gotten off to a slow start this week. He made 1 of 4 shots in the blowout of Croatia and went just 1 of 3 in the upset loss to Goran Dragic and Slovenia. A 6-4 guard, Llull’s strong play for Real Madrid has earned the sort of contract that the Rockets were not ready to offer until he is ready for a significant role, but he should make the jump in a year or two making him someone worth watching.

Playing for the Dominican Republic in Venezuela, Garcia has looked pretty much like he always does, playing solid defense and knocking down open shots to average 9.2 points per game, though he is just 8 of 28 on 3s.

The Rockets, however, are not going to worry too much about his play, with Garcia’s game well established by now.

Actually, they probably look at these games more for something to do than information about their players. That will come soon, though guessing from the hours spent watching on the laptop, not soon enough.